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Crystal Gayle

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AboutCrystal Gayle (born Brenda Gail Webb; January 9, 1951) is an American country music singer. Best known for her 1977 country-pop crossover hit song, "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue", she had twenty #1 country hits during the 1970s and 1980s (18 on Billboard and 2 on Cashbox) and six albums certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Gayle became the first female artist in country music history to reach platinum sales, with her 1977 album We Must Believe in Magic. Also noted for her nearly floor-length hair, she was voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People magazine in 1983. She is the younger sister of the country singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn and the singer Peggy Sue and a distant cousin of singer Patty Loveless. Gayle is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, near Lynn's star.

Crystal Gayle was born Brenda Gail Webb on January 9, 1951, in Paintsville, Kentucky, to Clara Marie (known as Clary; née Ramey; May 5, 1912 – November 24, 1981) and Melvin Theodore Webb (known as Ted; October 24, 1906 – February 23, 1959). Mr. Webb was a coal miner and subsistence farmer.

She was the youngest in the poor coal mining family of ten. She was also the only one of the eight children to be born in a hospital. Her older siblings are:

Melvin Webb (December 4, 1929 – July 1, 1993)
Loretta Lynn (née Webb; April 14, 1932)
Herman Webb (September 3, 1934)
Jay Lee (born Willie Lee Webb; February 12, 1936 – July 31, 1996)
Donald Ray Webb (April 2, 1941)
Peggy Sue Wright (née Webb; March 24, 1943)
Betty Ruth Webb (January 5, 1946)

Webb's family moved north to Wabash, Indiana, when she was four. Four years later, her father died of Coalworker's pneumoconiosis, also known as black lung disease. Though a shy child, Brenda would sing along with country and pop songs on the radio, and she was encouraged by her mother to sing for visitors to their house. Inspired by the success of her sister Loretta Lynn, she learned to play the guitar and sing backup in her brothers' folk band. While still in high school, she began to tour with her sister for a few weeks each summer.

After graduating from Wabash High School in 1970, Brenda signed with Decca Records, her sister's label. However, since there was already a singer named Brenda Lee with Decca Records, she was asked to change her first name. Loretta Lynn suggested the name "Crystal" after seeing a sign for the Krystal hamburger restaurant chain. Brenda Gail Webb thus became Crystal Gayle. In 1971 she married Bill Gatzimos, her high-school sweetheart; they have two children and a grandson.

Gayle's debut single, "I've Cried (The Blue Right Out of My Eyes)", was released in 1970 and peaked at number 23 on Billboard's country singles chart. Written by Loretta Lynn, it was performed in a style similar to that of her sister. Decca asked for more records like Lynn's, who wrote more of her early singles. This approach failed to establish Gayle, despite regular appearances on Blake Emmons's television show The Country Place.[3] She did not reappear in the country Top 40 until the 1974 release of "Restless", which reached number 39.

Frustrated, she left Decca and signed with United Artists, where she teamed with the producer Allen Reynolds, who offered her the creative freedom she wanted and helped her develop her own style and phrasing. The first album, Crystal Gayle, was released in 1974 and produced her first top-ten country hit, "Wrong Road Again" (number 6). By 1976, she had the first of her 20 number one country singles with "I'll Get Over You", which also became her first single on Billboard's Hot 100 (number 71) and adult contemporary chart (number 40). The following year, she had two more top-2 country hits, "You Never Miss a Real Good Thing (Till He Says Goodbye)" (number 1) and "I'll Do It All Over Again" (number 2), before achieving her greatest success. Gayle recalled what her sister Loretta Lynn had said: "'You record what I couldn't record — you do MOR, middle of the road', "and that was the best advice I could get. I don't think I ever would have made it if I went down the road and did the music my sister did. I would only have been compared to her."

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